Paul Moses to Discuss Francis of Assisi’s Mission to the Sultan of Egypt

Pulitzer Prize–winning Professor of Journalism Paul Moses will discuss his latest book, The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace, at the Woody Tanger Auditorium in the Brooklyn College Library on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

The book examines a mission of peace that Francis of Assisi, the Catholic saint who founded the religious Order of Friars Minor, commonly known as the Franciscans, undertook during the Fifth Crusade in 1219. Francis crossed enemy lines with a small party of supporters in the hope that he might be able to convert Malik al-Kamil, the sultan of Egypt, to Christianity. Although the mission failed, it did result in outcomes that can teach us lessons today.

Moses, a Brooklyn College alumnus, worked for 23 years in daily journalism before joining academia and returning to teach at his alma mater in 2001. Among his positions were senior religion writer, City Hall bureau chief and city editor at Newsday.

Moses’s appearance is a Wolfe Institute Series Event sponsored by the Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities, in cooperation with the Department of English, the Studies in Religion Program, the Journalism Program and the Center for Italian American Studies.

The Saint and the Sultan was published by Doubleday on Sept. 29 and should be arriving at our bookstore any day now.

For more information on Moses’s lecture, call 718.951.5847.